Sydney Rugby League Player Has Covered Up His Homophobic F-Word Slur Tattoo
The young Sydney rugby league player with a homophobic slur tattooed on his leg has had it permanently covered up.
Content warning: This story contains homophobic slurs.
Cronulla junior rugby league player Joshua Taylor-Myles sparked controversy last month after the league posted an image of him playing in the Luke Lewis Cup.
Followers quickly noticed the player had thigh tattoos that read ‘eat sh*t f*gg*t’ and ‘snort lines and f*ck’ on each leg.
The league quickly removed the image from their social media accounts.
Rugby league is the gift that keeps on giving 😂 pic.twitter.com/pElXZQITwy
— Eden Richards (@Eden_Richards) June 16, 2024
Taylor-Myles was swiftly told to cover the tattoos with tape while playing or be banned from playing in a NSW Rugby League-sanctioned competition.
He has now permanently removed the tattoos, posting an image to his social media showing that he has had the tattoos covered over in Bali.
The 23-year-old posted a series of photos, showing the tattoo design, which appears to be a roaring bear and a Viking.
Finally, he posted an image showing the covered leg tattoos.
No remorse from Joshua Taylor-Myles
However, Taylor-Myles doesn’t appear to be that remorseful about having slur tattooed on him – his caption for the new photos was, “Gone but not forgotten”.
The young player hasn’t made any public statement apologising or expressing regret from the harm perpetuated by having an anti-LGBTQI+ slur permanently inked on your body, or that the tattoos were photographed and shared by the league to a public audience.
He also posted a video yesterday of the tattoo pre-cover up, which shows off the offensive tattoo with blood running down his leg.
Comments on the video seemed generally supportive, with one follower saying ‘Hey Daily Mail if you’re reading this fuck you’ and another telling Taylor-Myles ‘Danger zone 🔥’.
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Daily Telegraph slams tattoos as “vile”
Phil Rothfield from The Daily Telegraph spoke out about the tattoo, saying they are “just vile”.
“They are so offensive. It is so homophobic. They didn’t realise,” Rothfield said.
“They didn’t check the leg tattoos of every player they pick in rep sides but when a photo was put up on social media of the player, they recognised it and sent it to the New South Wales Rugby League and good on Dave Trodden.
“He jumped on it straight away. He said we have zero tolerance for any form of bullying, harassment or vilification towards people with diverse sexualities and genders.
“They’ve said to this bloke, ‘Cover them up with tape or you will not play in a New South Wales Rugby League-sanctioned competition ever again’. I applaud them for coming down so hard on his rubbish.
“He plays in a club where there are a lot of young women and men who participate for the enjoyment, for the camaraderie and it’s just so out of order.”
Most rugby leave players have an accurate IQ printed on the back of their guernsey so this fella must be a fullback.